As the acid level rises, corals, shellfish and crustaceans find it more difficult to build their exoskeletons from layers of calcium carbonate.

Sounding a stark warning in the journal Nature, the scientists wrote: “Given the recent acceleration in global reef decline from acute impacts such as mass bleaching, acidification-induced reductions in reef growth and population replenishment will severely compromise coral reef recovery and could threaten their survival.

“Reef declines may have a wide range of possible effects on coastal human communities including reduced food, income and wellbeing, as well as longer term effects such as increased vulnerability as coral reefs become less able to protect coastal areas from storms and waves.”